Tacoma temporarily limits expansion of detention center

TACOMA, Wash. -- The Tacoma City Council has approved an emergency ordinance that would temporarily limit new or expanded correctional facilities in the city, including the federal immigration detention center.

The measure, introduced and passed Tuesday, creates a six-month rule that limits where public correctional facilities can be sited within city limits. It also bans new or expanded private correctional facilities across the city.

The News Tribune reports that the rule targets any future expansion at the Northwest Detention Center, an immigration detention center run by a private company on contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

GEO Group, which operates the facility, has not announced plans to expand the facility.

But some have worried that it will have to expand in the wake of President Donald Trump's sweeping plan to aggressively deport those in the country illegally.